President Trump’s executive order declaring that the federal government acknowledges only two genders, male and female, prompted the State Department to halt its policy allowing transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals to modify the “sex” field on their passports and to eliminate the X gender option.
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Jenny Kane/AP
Louie took a risk when he applied for a new passport after President Trump’s inauguration.
He possessed a valid passport for another two years. However, by the end of December, a New York state court approved Louie’s request to amend his name and gender marker. Consequently, he required a new passport — no matter who held the presidency.
Louie requested NPR to use just his first name due to fears of workplace harassment and retaliation.
At 24, Louie identifies as transmasculine. Recently, he changed his driver’s license and Social Security card to reflect his new gender marker. He reported a smooth process.
Problems arose when Louie submitted his new passport application within hours of Trump’s inauguration.
On the same day, Trump enacted an executive order stating that the federal government recognizes only two genders, male and female. This led the State Department to remove the X gender option and freeze its policy allowing transgender, intersex, and nonbinary individuals to modify their passport’s gender field.
This executive order has significantly disrupted the lives of individuals in prisons, schools, healthcare settings, and sports, and is now affecting the travel plans of some trans, nonbinary, and intersex people.
Approximately 1.3 million adults in the U.S. identify as transgender or gender nonconforming, while up to 5 million may be intersex, according to a recent brief by the Williams Institute at UCLA Law School, which studies sexual orientation and gender identity.
Individuals interviewed by NPR express that this policy change exemplifies the Trump administration’s ongoing discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community by erecting new barriers to their daily lives.
Consequently, the executive order means that the gender identity of transgender, nonbinary, and intersex individuals will not be reflected in official documents, compelling them to “out” themselves whenever they show their passports, which amplifies their anxiety and introduces unpredictable challenges in logistics and safety during travel and in daily life.
“Being a transgender person in this nation … this struggle for our rights, our recognition, our simple ability to live, is not a new battle,” remarks Westley Ebling, a trans man recently encountering difficulties acquiring a new passport. “Yet, the volume of attacks now is just horrifying. It’s a tough period to feel that a nation stands against you simply for wanting to exist.”
Travelers move through Salt Lake City International Airport on May 24, 2024, in Salt Lake City.
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Pandemic of Passport Applications
A week after Trump signed his order, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he would halt passport applications for Americans who selected X as their gender or were seeking to amend their document’s gender marker. Under the revised policies, the State Department will issue only passports indicating male or female and reflecting the applicant’s sex at birth.
The State Department has not responded to NPR’s inquiries regarding the new policies and their implementation.
NPR has engaged with LGBTQ+ advocates as well as seven individuals identifying as trans, nonbinary, or intersex directly influenced by the updated passport policy or who have postponed plans to apply for a new passport and travel due to the confusing new regulations.
In Louie’s scenario, he obtained a new passport reflecting his name change, but the gender marker remained “female,” aligned with his previous passport. Louie expressed his discontent and uncertainty regarding the implications for him, a sentiment echoed by Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer, who announced on TikTok that her newly issued passport wrongly indicated her sex assigned at birth rather than her current gender marker, which is consistent across her other documentation.
Louie is reconsidering where he might travel internationally, concerned about how interactions within the U.S. with law enforcement, for instance, could complicate situations where his passport presents one gender while his other legal documents state another.
Trump’s passport policy is presently the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which contends that the executive order and passport policy are unlawful, unconstitutional, and “disconnected from scientific and medical realities.”
The American Medical Association advocates for policies “that enable the designation of sex or modifications to such designations on all government IDs to match an individual’s gender identity,” as stated by the organization. Defining sex solely as male or female disregards the “medical spectrum of gender identity,” hampers individuals’ self-expression, and contributes to marginalization, they assert.
In 2021, the State Department allowed individuals to make gender marker changes without requiring doctor certification and enabled applicants to choose a third gender option, X, on their passport — following years of litigation. A passport with an X gender marker, belonging to Dana Zzyym — who sued the State Department for a passport that didn’t specify male or female — is seen resting on a table in Fort Collins, Colo., on October 27, 2021.
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Previous Passport Policies
People have been able to change the sex field on passports from male to female or vice versa since 2010, a policy which was maintained throughout the first Trump administration.
Initially, a doctor had to verify that the applicant was undergoing treatment for gender transition to qualify for a modification. However, in 2021, the State Department removed the requirement for doctor certification for such changes and allowed for the selection of a third gender option, X, on passports — a decision made after years of legal challenges. Thousands of gender X passports are estimated to be in circulation now, although the State Department has not released precise data.
Countries such as Canada, Australia, India, and New Zealand permit the “X” designation on their passports, while numerous states already allow residents to update their driver’s licenses to reflect their gender identity, with “X” being an available option in 22 states and the District of Columbia. At least 16 states adhere to an X gender marker option for updated birth certificates.
The establishment of the new passport policy has led legal and advocacy organizations to receive numerous inquiries from people like Louie, who have received passports with the incorrect gender markers, and others whose passports and legal documents are being withheld by the State Department.
Withheld Passports, Unanswered Questions
Such complications have left individuals like Westley Ebling in a limbo regarding their passport applications, with complete silence from the State Department and retention of crucial documents like old passports and birth certificates.
Ebling, a 26-year-old trans man residing in Washington, D.C., submitted his passport renewal application with a requested gender marker change from female to male on January 15. The application was recorded on January 22, shortly after Trump enacted the executive order.
Wondering about the implications, Ebling reached out to the office of his congressional representative, Democratic Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, and was informed that passport applications requesting gender changes had been indefinitely suspended.
“That’s all the information I have,” states Ebling. Consequently, he presently lacks a new passport, and his previous one remains unreturned. He mentioned that he and his partner postponed their travel plans.
Unique Challenges for Intersex Americans
The recent policy alterations have a notably significant impact on intersex individuals — those born with reproductive organs, chromosomes, or genitalia that don’t align with standard definitions of male or female — according to Erika Lorshbough, executive director of interACT, a nonprofit advocating for the rights of intersex individuals.
Under Trump’s January 20 executive order, which is titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” the federal government’s definition of “female” refers to “a person, at conception, belonging to the sex that produces the large reproductive cell,” while “male” refers to “a person, at conception, belonging to the sex that produces the small reproductive cell.”
Intersex individuals, by nature, cannot fit neatly into these classifications, states Lorshbough.
“For members of the intersex community, visibility has consistently been a challenge. By attempting to define sex strictly in binary terms, you inadvertently affect intersex individuals who, by their very definition, do not conform to binary sex,” adds Lorshbough.
Some individuals who are intersex might be assigned a specific sex at birth that does not correspond to their biological development later in life, as noted by Lorshbough. The introduction of the X gender marker as an option on official documents helped intersex people feel better represented, she mentions.
So, what should intersex individuals expect when applying for or updating a passport now?
Jennifer Sensiba, residing in New Mexico, is uncertain.
